Speaker Profiles

Tim Atkin MW

Internationally recognised wine expert and multi-award winning journalist, Tim Atkin MW, is one of Britain's leading wine writers. He is a columnist for The Times, OLN, The Economist Intelligent Life and Woman and Home and also writes for Decanter and The World of Fine Wine, as well as appearing regularly on BBC One's Saturday Kitchen. Tim also lectures and runs his own wine school, specializing in the wines of Spain, France and the New World, and publishes www.timatkin.com

Pablo Álvarez

Pablo Álvarez is the general director of the legendary winery Vega Sicilia in the Ribera del Duero. Since his family took over the estate in 1982, Vega Sicilia has gained an international reputation for producing the ultimate classic Spanish wine, exported to more than 60 countries. Vega Sicilia also owns other successful wineries in Ribera del Duero, Hungary and Toro.

Michael Mondavi

Michael Mondavi has more than 40 years of wine industry experience. After co-founding the Robert Mondavi Winery with his father in 1966, he founded Folio Fine Wine Partners in 2004 with his wife and children. Michael Mondavi is a leading wine industry executive, innovator and entrepreneur.

Serge Hochar

Decanter's first ever "Wine Man of the Year", Serge Hochar is the winemaker and owner of the Château Musar winery in Lebanon. Serge has a diploma in oenology from Bordeaux and his professional achievements include helping pave the way for Lebanon's adherence to the OIV (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin) in 1995.

Ernst Loosen

German winemaker, Ernst Loosen is well known for the exceptional quality of his Riesling wine. Since taking over his family run estate in 1987, Ernst has changed the face of wine production in the Mosel and Pfalz Valleys, accumulating the prestigious awards of "Riesling of the Year" in 1989 by the German wine trade magazine Feinschmecker, Decanter's "Wine Man of the Year 2005" and IWSC's "White Winemaker of the Year 2005".

Gerard Basset

Gerard Basset MW MS is the only person in the world to have achieved a Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and the Bordeaux Wine MBA. Gerard is an associate director of Wine Intelligence and a co-founder of the Hotel du Vin group. He has published the book, "The Wine Experience", and is currently involved in a number of directorships including Hotel Terravina, the Academy of Food and Wine Service, and the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Jeannie Cho Lee

The first Asian MW, Jeannie Cho Lee is an international wine judge, writer, speaker and consultant. She contributes to international publications including Wine Spectator, Decanter, Harper's, The World of Fine Wine, Revue du Vin and Wine Business International. Jeannie's award-winning book about Asian cuisine and wine called, Asian Palate, is already in its second print run. She is also a certified wine educator and sought-after speaker, and in 2009, she received the Vinitaly International Award for her contributions to the wine industry.

Juan Park

Juan joined Wine Intelligence in 2006 and is responsible for managing quantitative research projects for Iberian and South American clients. After graduating with a degree in Sociology from the University of Salamanca, he moved to London in 2005 where he obtained an MSc in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics (LSE). He has presented wine consumer research projects in Spain, Portugal, UK and Chile. Juan grew up in Valladolid, at the heart of the Castile and León wine regions of Rueda, Cigales and Ribera del Duero.

Felicity Carter

Felicity Carter is an Australian journalist who has written for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Decanter, among many others, and who has judged wine competitions in Australia, Portugal, Bordeaux and Germany. Felicity is now editor-in-chief of Meininger's Wine Business International, based in Germany.

David Scotland

Over the course of a long and illustrious career, David Scotland has worked at the highest levels in the global alcoholic beverages industry. From 1995 to 2005 David sat as a main board director of Allied Domecq plc, and spent the last three years with Wine Intelligence as President of its global wine division.

Eleonora Scholes

Eleonora Scholes is known as one of Russia's most authoritative wine journalists. Living in Italy, she regularly writes for Russian wine publications and contributes to international magazines such as Meininger's Wine Business International and The World of Fine Wine. Her extensive knowledge of the Russian market is often called upon for various consulting projects and international conferences.

Michael Yurch

President of New York's widely renowned Sherry-Lehmann wine store, Michael Yurch, is a respected leader in the wine industry. He makes various appearances as a guest wine expert on many television and radio programs. Michael helped to found the Informal Coalition to Preserve Consumer Access to Wine and has received numerous prestigious industry awards such as the "Comitato Grandi Cru d'Italia Award" for lifetime service to the Italian Wine Industry.

Mark Beringer

Specialist in ultra-premium Californian wine making, Mark Beringer is the Vice President of production at the Artesa Winery in Napa Valley. He has over 25 years of experience in the wine industry and in 2005 the San Francisco Chronicle named Mark, "Winemaker of the Year" for his work at Duckhorn Vineyards.

Ferran Centelles

Sommelier of elBulli restaurant for over 8 years, Ferran Centelles was awarded with the Ruinart prize as the best Spanish sommelier in 2006. Ferran also contributes to a variety of specialist wine magazines in Spain as well as lecturing on wine at the official sommelier school in Catalonia. He studied viticulture and oenology at Mercè Rossell School in Espiells.

Xavier Rousset MS

Xavier Rousset MS is an Award-winning Master Sommelier and protégé of Gerard Basset. He won the UK Sommelier of the year award in 2002 and in 2007 opened his own critically acclaimed restaurant, Texture, in London. Xavier also works on a regular basis with the Food and Wine Academy service.

José Carlos Capel

Spain's top food-critic José Carlos Capel is a writer, journalist and highly influential gastronomy critic for "El País". He is also the founder of MadridFusion which annually hosts the Madrid Fusion Food Fair.

John Szabo MS

John Szabo MS is Canada's first Master Sommelier, passing the Court's final examinations in 2004. He designs wine programs for restaurants across Canada, counting a long list of successful operations such as the National Arts Centre and the Terroni Group of Restaurants among his clients. He is currently President of the Wine Writer's Circle of Canada, authors the WineAlign.com Vintages Preview Report, is a member of the Wine Access National Tasting Panel, and is wine editor and columnist for Toronto's CityBites Magazine.

David Francke

David Francke is the Managing Director at Folio Fine Wine Partners, responsible for the strategic direction of the company. With over 20 years in the wine industry, David previous roles include Vice President of the Robert Mondavi Corporation, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville and Senior Vice President and General Manager of The Estates Group division of Young's Market Company.

Lulie Halstead

Lulie Halstead is both an experienced wine industry practitioner and a leading wine marketing academic. She is co-founder and Chief Executive of Wine Intelligence. She frequently speaks at industry and academic conferences around the world, presenting papers on issues such as wine branding, consumer behaviour and new product development.

Michael Sondag

Michael Sondag is the Creative Director for Hackett London and former Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Men's Sportswear at Tommy Hilfiger. Previously he was the Creative director for Victorinox Swiss Army and prior to that the Design Director at Timberland. He is currently based in London and Florence.

Bruce Tyrrell

Bruce Tyrrell is the Managing Director of the award winning Tyrrell's winery in Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. Bruce has worked to improve grape quality, research, tourism and export opportunities and his efforts were recognised in 2006 with an Order of Australia medal for his contribution to the Australian wine industry. He has particularly worked on the Semillon variety and the development of single vineyard wines from the Hunter's oldest blocks.

Joshua Greene

Joshua Greene has been editor and publisher of Wine & Spirits magazine since 1986. Greene has travelled extensively through the wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Chile, as well as all the major regions in the U.S. At Wine & Spirits, Greene also serves as the critic for California wines, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Rioja, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He also contributes feature stories and commentary in each issue of the magazine.

Elin McCoy

Elin McCoy is wine and spirits columnist for Bloomberg News, where she writes a monthly column for Bloomberg Markets and a bimonthly column for the Bloomberg news wire. She is currently writing a wine book set in Sonoma. Her most recent book, "The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr. and the Reign of American Taste," won the 2005 World Gourmand Cookbook Award and was a finalist for the James Beard and IACP wine book of the year awards. Elin was a contributing editor on wine at Food & Wine for 25 years and has been a columnist for House Beautiful, Las Vegas Life, Shattered, and Drink. She has written for several national publications, including The New York Times.

Ryan Opaz

Ryan Opaz specializes in wine communication via the internet, using blogging and social media. He is the co-founder of Catavino, the hugely successful wine blog promoting awareness of Spanish and Portuguese wines. He began Catavino with his wife Gabriella in 2005, having moved to Spain from Minnesota where he previously ran a wine shop and worked as a chef. He is also co-founder of the European Wine bloggers conference, an event dedicated to online wine publishing.

Hamish McRae

Hamish McRae is one of Europe's foremost speaker on future trends in economics, business and society. He is the principal economic commentator for The Independent and The Independent on Sunday. In January 2010 he published his latest book, "What Works - Success in Stressful Times". He is also the author of the acclaimed work, "The World in 2020: Power, Culture and Prosperity".

Olivier Krug

Olivier Krug is the “directeur de la maison” of the legendary Champagne House Krug, producer of possibly the best Champagne in the world. Olivier is the sixth generation of the family to oversee the style of the House. Olivier joined the Krug Champagne house in 1989 where 3 generations were still working together. He has had a commercial direction responsibility and is especially responsible for developing presence of Krug in Japan.

Richard Halstead

Richard is co-founder and chief of operations for Wine Intelligence, a market research and strategy company focused on the global wine industry. A former financial journalist, Richard entered the world of wine when, as a newly-graduated MBA from the London Business School, he was appointed the first Business Development Manager of Virgin Wines shortly after its launch. He claims he started Wine Intelligence so he could answer all the questions that eluded him whilst at Virgin, and has since led numerous research and strategy projects on behalf of clients across the world.

Helen Gregory

Prior to founding Gregory White PR in 2001, Helen was Vice President of Marketing for BevAccess Publishing. She has worked in strategic brand management for luxury brands at premier wine importer Kobrand Corporation, and for the Trade Commission of Spain/Wines from Spain. She is also the former Executive Director of New York Women for WineSense, a beverage marketing consultant to CBS News, a contributor to City Harvest and the National Association of Professional Women, and a lecturer in hospitality marketing at the French Culinary Institute.

Jorge Eduardo Benavides

Jorge Eduardo Benavides, (Arequipa, 1964) has a degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Garcilaso de la Vega and is a journalist and writer. He currently collaborates with the newspaper El País (Spain), as well as with various magazines and literary supplements in Spain, the USA and Latin America. He has been a finalist for the NH story Award, 2000, FNAC New Talent award (Spain) 2003 and finalist for the Rómulo Gallegos Award (2002). He is also currently the Director of the Madrid Novelists Training Centre. He is the author of the works "Cuentario y otros relatos" (Lima, 1989), "Los años inútiles" (2002) and "El año que rompí contigo" (2003) and the novels "La noche de Morgana" (2005), "Un millón de soles" (2008) and "La Paz de los vencidos" (2009). The latter was awarded the Julio Ramón Ribeyro Short Novel Prize.

Javier Sáez De Ibarra

Javier Sáez De Ibarra (b.Vitoria, the Basque country, 1961) is a writer and Professor of Language and Literature. Together with Viviana Paletta, he manages the Short Narrative collections at the publishers Páginas de Espuma. As an author, he has published a poetry book: Motivos (Icaria, 2006) and three short stories with Páginas de espuma: El lector de Spinoza (2004), Propuesta imposible (2008) and Mirar al agua. Cuentos plásticos (2009), which won the first "Ribera del Duero" Short Story International Award. His stories have also appeared in various magazines and newspapers as well as in some short story books. He also writes essays and aphorisms which have been published in magazines such as Clarín and Babab.

Luis García Jambrina

Luis García Jambrina is an acclaimed writer and the Head Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Salamanca. He is has a PhD honours in Spanish Studies and a Masters in Fictional Scripts for Television and Cinema. Since 1999, he has been the Director of The Writers and Critics of Spanish Arts Assemblies in Verines (Asturias), founed by Víctor García de la Concha. He regularly contributes to the cultural supplement of ABCD las Artes y las Letras, as well as other publications. He has received the Fray Luis de León Essay award in 1999, amongst many others. He is the author of two novels which have been translated into several languages and appeared in various anthologies. His first novel, The Stone Manuscript (El manuscrito de piedra - Alfaguara, Madrid, 2008), is now in its 7th edition of publication and has been awarded with the prestigious International Award for Historical Novel of The city of Zaragoza. It was also a finalist for the Critique of Castilla y Leon award.

Juana Salabert

Juana Salabert has a degree in Contemporary Literature from the University of Toulouse Le-Mirail. She is a very versatile writer who has published novels, essays, stories, children’s books and travel guides. Her most well know works are Varadero, Arde lo que será, Mar de los espejos, Velódromo de invierno, Aire nada más, Estación central, La bruja marioneta and Hijas de la ira: vidas rotas por la Guerra Civil. Juana Salabert work has been recognised with awards such as the Short Story UNED Prize, the Breve Seix-Barral library Award and the Fernando Quiñones Award. Also she has been a finalist for prestigious awards such as The Nadal, the Dulce Chacón and National Narrative Award. Furthermore, she is a novelist, columnist, literary critic and translator.

Erica Donoho

Based in the United States, Erica is responsible for coordinating research projects in the USA for Wine Intelligence. Having worked for 8 years as a Litigation Attorney, Erica developed her examination and interviewing skills as well as her ability to collect, analyse and present data. Since joining Wine Intelligence in 2006, she has conducted extensive research throughout the United States and Canada on behalf of numerous clients including winemakers, regional trade organizations, importers and distributors and has presented on a number of Panels at The London International Wine Fair on the subject of North American Consumers.